It's almost always booked solid a year or more in advance and has been featured on multiple websites for its amazing views, stunning location, and Robinson Crueso-style bungalows.

I booked the island on a whim in spring 2016, and stayed there in summer 2017 ... and it was way different than I thought it would be.

In the spring of 2016, I was almost one year out of college and in need of an adventure. One afternoon I opened up Airbnb's homepage to browse around, as I so often did for fun, and a tiny, private island was on the front page. It was a pinprick piece of land situated in the middle of a large reef, which was surrounded by a giant expanse of ocean.

The island is tiny, but it's almost always booked a solid year in advance. Olivia Muenter

At the time it was $325 a night, which was not only cheaper than a lot of hotels, but seemed like a steal for having an entire island all to yourself. So, as a surprise to my boyfriend and also sort of a gift to myself, I booked it on an impulsive whim. And then I waited ... for almost a year and a half. Over that year and a half span, Bird Island started getting more and more attention — popping up on sites like Business Insider and Thrillist.

I spent the next 16 months watching videos about the island that would pop up on my Facebook feed, Googling photos of it, planning, and saving for the trip to Belize. And when I got there, though it was still the trip of a lifetime, it was nothing like I expected.

Here's what the entire experience was like.

Since Placencia is a tiny village with a tiny airport, we first had to book flights from New York to Belize City, the country's major travel hub.

From there we booked local charter flights from Belize City to Placencia. For the flight from Belize City to Placencia we were in a plane with six other people (including the pilots), and while my boyfriend loved it, I was terrified. This was one of the parts of the trip I was most nervous about, but the views of Belize were stunning and the trip, though stomach-churning, was unforgettable.

The charter flight to Placencia had stunning views of Belize. Olivia Muenter

After arriving in Placencia and staying at a small beach resort for a few days, we eventually met Bird Island's host and owner Fred in town at the Placencia dock. First, though, we had to go to the local grocery store and get enough food (and booze) for our four days there.

This is where I wish we would have planned more carefully. We ended up not being able to carry much and buying random staples — hot dogs, an XXL bag of tortilla chips, single glass bottles of beer (they didn't sell any in cases). We also didn't have any extra bags (again, poor planning) so carrying all of this in 98-degree heat was, well, an experience.

Eventually, though, we made it to Fred's boat with all of our supplies and we were off to Bird Island.

It was a 30 minute boat ride from Placencia to Bird Island. Olivia Muenter

Fred was kind, helpful, and just about as relaxed as you would imagine someone who moves to Belize and buys a tiny private island might be. For the boat ride there, we were going straight into the wind and waves so the boat would jolt up and down against the water pretty violently. I remember thinking that all the beer bottles were going to break. But after about 30 minutes, we made it to the island. (The beer survived the journey in the end).

Coming up to the island on the boat was nothing short of magical.

All of a sudden you this speck of land on the horizon appears and we realized that's where we'd be staying for the next few nights — totally alone. It's exciting and sort of terrifying all at once, unlike any travel experience I've had before. We knew immediately that we were doing something special.

The Airbnb included snorkeling equipment, kitchen supplies, two kayaks, and an island cell phone for emergencies. Olivia Muenter

After giving us a lay of the land, and showing us where things like the island cell phone (for emergencies), snorkel equipment, and kitchen supplies were, Fred left. And then it was just us, a few beers, two kayaks, roughly 23,000 hermit crabs, and the island.

It admittedly took my boyfriend and I a bit of time to get settled.

It's an odd feeling to realize that you are the only people for miles, especially when it gets dark. It took me more than a couple hours to fall asleep the first night there despite being flat out exhausted from the heat. With some time, though, the silence that I found unsettling at first eventually became incredibly relaxing.

With nobody around for miles, the island got quiet. Olivia Muenter

The next day we spent snorkeling around the island, spotting barracudas, spotted stingrays, schools of fish, and what seemed like hundreds of massive starfish.

Again, though, snorkeling in a reef smack dab in the middle of the ocean with only one person around you took a bit of getting used to. More than once the thought crossed my mind that if something were to happen (shark) or one of us were to get hurt (shark), that there wouldn't be much of anything I could do. But the gorgeous coral and sea life kept me distracted for the most part.

You can spot coral, star fish, and other marine life when snorkeling. Olivia Muenter

Another afternoon we spent kayaking to the surrounding islands. This was exhilarating in a different type of way — as my kayak glided over the coral to the giant drop-off just off the edge of the reef my stomach lurched. One minute I could see every fish and coral formation beneath the kayak, the next it was darkness for miles down. Again, the key here was to focus on the experience and not the fact that I was essentially alone and surrounded by basically only water for miles and miles in every direction.

You can also kayak to surrounding islands. Olivia Muenter

At nights, we would watch the sunset, make dinner from fresh fish, or try to spot some night sea life off of the dock.

One evening my boyfriend shined his iPhone flashlight on the water off the dock only to illuminate a 6-foot-long nurse shark. Going snorkeling after that sighting was even more nerve-wracking, but it didn't stop us.

But just because it's your own private island doesn't mean it's relaxing in the same way a luxury resort may be.

Sunset on the island was breathtaking. Olivia Muenter

First thing's first: There's no air conditioning, and although all the buildings have doors and windows, it's essentially open-air rooms. No matter how careful you are, sand found its way into every room (and the bed), and we were greeted by hermit crabs every night in the kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom.

There was no air conditioning, but there were plenty of hermit crabs. Olivia Muenter

When the wind died down (which it did for one night), there was nothing to keep away the bugs or heat. We had to make all our own meals and drinks, and it was surprisingly easy to miscalculate how much we would need. By the last night, all my boyfriend and I had left to eat was tortilla chips and two hot dogs.

I say all of this not to imply that Bird Island is a negative experience. In fact, all of that is part of the magic of the island.

These aspects have only contributed to the very fond memory I have of the trip. But it's easy to get sidetracked by the idea of a "private island" and immediately imagine cabanas on the beach and endless chilled glasses overflowing with Pina Coladas. Bird Island is wonderful. But it is not cabanas and Pina Coladas (well, unless you want to freeze your own ice and make them yourself).

In reality, Bird Island is more accurately somewhere in between glamping and ... well, actual camping. Still, it's worth every cent. Bug bites, suffocating heat, shark sightings, and all, I'd do it again in a second — I'd just bring a few more bottles of beer the second time around.

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